Senegal

Inheriting the family farm can be a mixed blessing in a setting in which land and credit markets do not work well, and being in charge of the farm comes with familial and societal sharing obligations relevant to incentives for diversification into non-farm activities. Using original data on Senegal that include an individualized measure of consumption, we study the role played by land inheritance, other bequests and parental background as influences on an individual adult’s economic welfare and current economic activities, emphasizing differences between men and women.

This paper is a study of how commoditisation and female migration among the Jola in Senegal have provided opportunities for women to free themselves from male control over their labour. It questions whether despite these gains, women are nevertheless marginalised in Senegal’s urban economy.

This summary of Land Tenure and Property Rights (LTPR) issues in Senegal is part of a series of LTPR Country Profiles produced for USAID. The profile includes information on property rights and tenure concerning land, forests, freshwater, and minerals, as well as an aggregation of LTPR-related indicators. Options and opportunities for intervention by USAID are presented at the end of the profile, along with an extensive list of references for additional information.

This paper mentions women’s ownership of, access to and control over land in the context of the complexity and diversity of women's informal financial practices in Senegal. It suggests that these practices are at the centre of a constant dialectic between short-term and long-term horizons, between the requirements of daily survival and the demands of community solidarity, and between personal aspirations and collective constraints.

Women in Senegal face immense obstacles to individual land acquisition and control. Land inaccessibility is a problem that leads to limitations on women's economic productivity and food security. Women in Senegal can access land through associations and groups of women, but this is not sufficient for guaranteeing continuity and independence of land control.

Land and decentralization policies in Senegal have been closely linked since the country became independent in 1960. Public lands are currently managed by the local government of municipalties and rural communities, with the latter responsible for the land and natural resources in unprotected parts of their territory, and the former empowered to issue building permits. The law also provides opportunities for rural communities, municipalties and regions to be involved in managing special areas such as classified forests, national parks and protected spaces.

This paper mentions: “Womenreceived plots of landfor their use from their fathers, or if married, from their husbands but they could not pass these on to their heirs, not even to their sons. It also discusses how the household farming system has changed in Senegalin the post-independence period.”